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AXUS75 KPUB 190617
DGTPUB
DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO
1217 AM MDT FRI JUN 19 2015
COC003-009-011-015-021-023-025-027-041-043-055-061-065-071-079-089-
099-101-105-109-119-210630-
1217 AM MDT FRI JUN 19 2015
...RECORD TO NEAR RECORD PRECIPITATION THROUGHOUT THE MONTH OF MAY
HAS ENDED THE MULTI-YEAR DROUGHT ACROSS MOST OF SOUTH CENTRAL AND
SOUTHEAST COLORADO...
SYNOPSIS...
A VERY STORMY MAY BROUGHT WIDESPREAD RAINFALL OF 3 TO 4 INCHES
ACROSS MOST OF SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST COLORADO...WITH POCKETS
OF 6 TO 9 INCHES OF RAIN RECORDED ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE LOWER
ARKANSAS RIVER VALLEY AND POCKETS OF 8 TO 12 INCHES OR MORE OF
RAIN RECORDED ACROSS NORTHERN AND WESTERN PORTIONS OF EL PASO
COUNTY. THIS ABUNDANT PRECIPITATION...ALONG WITH ABOVE NORMAL TO
WELL ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION...ESPECIALLY ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST
PLAINS...FOR THE WATER YEAR (OCTOBER 1ST THROUGH SEPTEMBER 30TH)
THUS FAR...HAS BROUGHT AN END TO THE DROUGHT WHICH HAS HAD ITS
GRIP AREA FOR THE PAST SEVERAL YEARS.
THE LATEST US DROUGHT MONITOR...ISSUED THURSDAY JUNE 18TH...DEPICTS
MOST OF SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST COLORADO AS DROUGHT FREE...WITH
ABNORMALLY DRY (D0) CONDITIONS INDICATED ACROSS THE WESTERN 2/3RDS
OF SAGUACHE COUNTY...NORTHERN THROUGH SOUTHEASTERN MINERAL COUNTY...RIO
GRANDE COUNTY...NORTHERN CONEJOS COUNTY AND WESTERN ALAMOSA COUNTY.
MORE INFORMATION ON THE US DROUGHT MONITOR CLASSIFICATION SCHEME CAN
BE FOUND AT:
WWW.DROUGHTMONITOR.UNL.EDU/ABOUTUS/CLASSIFICATIONSCHEME.ASPX
DROUGHT IMPACTS...
FIRE DANGER...
THE WIDESPREAD BENEFICIAL PRECIPITATION OVER THE PAST MONTH HAS
ALLOWED FOR DECREASING FIRE DANGER ACROSS THE AREA...ESPECIALLY
OVER THE EASTERN MOUNTAINS AND SOUTHEAST PLAINS.
THE LATEST INFORMATION ON FIRE BANS AND RESTRICTIONS CAN BE FOUND AT:
WWW.COEMERGENCY.COM/P/FIRE-BANS-DANGER.HTML
AGRICULTURAL...
WIDESPREAD PRECIPITATION ACROSS THE AREA OVER THE PAST MONTH HAS
HELPED TO REPLENISH SOIL MOISTURE ACROSS THE AREA WITH CPC AND
VIC SOIL MOISTURE CALCULATIONS INDICATING ABOVE TO WELL ABOVE
NORMAL CONDITIONS ACROSS MOST OF SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST
COLORADO.
HYDROLOGIC...
WIDESPREAD AND ABUNDANT PRECIPITATION...ALONG WITH COOLER THAN
NORMAL TEMPERATURES THROUGHOUT THE MONTH OF MAY WAS GREAT NEWS
ACROSS THE AREA IN TERMS OF WATER SUPPLY AND DROUGHT RELIEF.
HOWEVER...THE RECORD PRECIPITATION...DELAYED HIGH MOUNTAIN SNOW
MELT AND SATURATED SOILS HAS LED TO FLOODING ISSUES ACROSS THE
AREA. THE HIGH MOUNTAIN SNOW PACK WILL CONTINUE TO QUICKLY MELT
WITH EXPECTED SUMMERTIME TEMPERATURES...LEADING TO A GRADUAL
EASING OF FLOODING CONCERNS THROUGH THE REST OF MONTH.
STATEWIDE RESERVOIR STORAGE LEVELS AT THE END OF MAY CAME IN AT
107 PERCENT OF AVERAGE OVERALL...WHICH AROUND THE 108 PERCENT OF
AVERAGE OVERALL FROM LAST MONTH...BUT IS UP FROM THE 94 PERCENT OF
AVERAGE OVERALL OF AVAILABLE STORAGE AT THIS SAME TIME LAST YEAR.
IN THE ARKANSAS BASIN...STORAGE LEVELS AT THE END OF MAY WAS AT
108 PERCENT OF AVERAGE OVERALL...UP FROM THE 80 PERCENT OF AVERAGE
OVERALL STORAGE REPORTED LAST MONTH. THIS IS ALSO WELL ABOVE THE
56 PERCENT OF AVERAGE STORAGE REPORTED AT THIS SAME TIME LAST
YEAR.
IN THE RIO GRANDE BASIN...STORAGE LEVELS AT THE END OF MAY FELL
TO 66 PERCENT OF AVERAGE OVERALL...COMPARED TO THE 75 PERCENT OF
AVERAGE STORAGE REPORTED LAST MONTH...THOUGH IS UP FROM THE 63
PERCENT OF AVERAGE STORAGE REPORTED AT THIS SAME TIME LAST YEAR.
CLIMATE SUMMARY...
THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE IN ALAMOSA THROUGHOUT THE MONTH OF MAY WAS
1.4 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. ALAMOSA RECORDED 1.77 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION
THROUGHOUT THE MONTH OF MAY. THIS IS 1.19 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL AND MAKES
MAY OF 2015 THE 4TH WETTEST MAY ON RECORD IN ALAMOSA. ALAMOSA
RECORDED A TRACE OF SNOWFALL THROUGHOUT THE MONTH OF MAY...WHICH
IS 0.7 INCHES BELOW NORMAL.
THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE IN COLORADO SPRINGS THROUGHOUT THE MONTH
OF MAY WAS 3.6 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. COLORADO SPRINGS RECORDED 8.13
INCHES OF PRECIPITATION THROUGHOUT THE MONTH OF MAY. THIS IS 6.10
INCHES ABOVE NORMAL AND MAKES MAY OF 2015 THE WETTEST MAY ON RECORD
IN COLORADO SPRINGS. COLORADO SPRINGS RECORDED NO SNOW THROUGHOUT
THE MONTH OF MAY...WHICH IS 0.7 INCHES BELOW NORMAL.
THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE IN PUEBLO THROUGHOUT THE MONTH OF MAY WAS
3.4 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. PUEBLO RECORDED 5.55 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION
THROUGHOUT THE MONTH OF MAY. THIS IS 4.04 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL AND
MAKES MAY OF 2015 THE WETTEST MAY ON RECORD IN PUEBLO. PUEBLO
RECORDED NO SNOW THROUGHOUT THE MONTH OF MAY...WHICH IS 0.4 INCHES
BELOW NORMAL.
HERE ARE A FEW OTHER STATISTICS FOR SELECT SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST
COLORADO LOCATIONS...INDICATING OBSERVED PRECIPITATION TOTALS AND
DEPARTURE FROM NORMALS:
...............PAST........PAST 3......PAST 6.......PAST 365........
...............MONTH.......MONTHS......MONTHS.......DAYS............
...............TOTAL/DEP...TOTAL/DEP...TOTAL/DEP....TOTAL/DEP.......
...............INCHES......INCHES......INCHES.......INCHES..........
ALS AIRPORT 1.77/+1.19 2.60/+0.90 4.15/+1.58 7.67/+0.36
COS AIRPORT 8.13/+6.10 9.91/+5.46 12.39/+6.94 24.48/+7.94
PUB AIRPORT 5.55/+4.04 7.54/+3.70 9.16/+4.29 16.55/+3.98
EADS 9.25/+6.99 10.79/+6.16 12.99/+7.19 29.27/+13.78
LAMAR 7.07/+5.05 8.43/+4.25 10.55/+5.30 22.98/+7.78
WALSH 1W 5.64/+3.42 6.80/+1.90 10.69/+4.30 20.74/+1.58
CAMPO 7S 4.02/+1.92 5.02/+0.59 7.47/+1.84 18.04/+1.08
ORDWAY 21N 4.90/+3.26 5.75/+2.15 6.39/+1.99 12.22/-0.33
LAS ANIMAS 5.77/+3.83 7.54/+3.43 9.04/+3.77 16.29/+2.56
KIM 15NNE 4.08/+2.22 6.15/+1.30 9.49/+2.98 24.74/+7.90
FLORISSANT_FB 5.55/+3.87 8.36/+3.97 10.21/+4.36 21.90/+5.02
CANON CITY 6.00/+4.59 11.97/+7.89 15.22/+9.65 20.53/+7.06
RYE 1SW 9.53/+7.31 14.57/+6.88 20.82/+9.38 37.98/+12.87
WESTCLIFFE 3.02/+1.64 4.92/+0.75 6.82/+0.88 15.82/+1.27
WALSENBURG 1NW 5.81/+3.99 9.37/+3.41 14.02/+5.19 26.16/+8.12
TRINIDAD 5.78/+4.06 8.87/+4.71 11.81/+5.98 19.58/+3.27
CRESTONE 2SE 5.05/+4.03 6.26/+3.00 9.67/+4.86 18.44/+5.18
DEL NORTE 2E 2.34/+1.51 3.88/+1.39 5.86/+2.07 10.54/-0.02
BUENA VISTA 2S 4.23/+3.16 6.47/+3.70 8.48/+4.60 14.53/+3.94
CLIMAX 3.18/+1.26 7.91/+1.25 14.01/+1.68 28.50/+4.52
PRECIPITATION/TEMPERATURE OUTLOOK...
THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTERS (CPC) OUTLOOK ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL
AND SOUTHEAST COLORADO OVER THE NEXT WEEK INDICATES BETTER CHANCES
OF NEAR TO ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND A SLIGHT NOD TO ABOVE NORMAL
PRECIPITATION. THE OUTLOOK FOR REST OF JUNE...JULY AND AUGUST CONTINUE
TO INDICATE A SLIGHT TILT TO BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES ALONG WITH
A BETTER CHANCES OF ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL
AND SOUTHEAST COLORADO.
THE CPC SEASONAL DROUGHTOUTLOOK VALID THROUGH JULY 31ST...INDICATES
PROBABLE IMPROVEMENT IN THE DROUGHT CONDITIONS ACROSS PORTIONS OF
SOUTHEASTERN COLORADO.
NEXT ISSUANCE DATE...
THIS PRODUCT WILL BE UPDATED BY THURSDAY JULY 16TH 2015...OR
SOONER IF NECESSARY...IN RESPONSE TO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN
CONDITIONS.
&&
RELATED WEB SITES...
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON CURRENT DROUGHT CONDITIONS MAY BE FOUND AT
THE FOLLOWING WEB ADDRESSES /USE LOWER CASE LETTERS/:
U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR: HTTP://DROUGHTMONITOR.UNL.EDU
SOUTHEAST AND SOUTH CENTRAL COLORADO PRECIPITATION AND DROUGHT
MONITOR: HTTP://WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/PUB/?N=NEW_LOCAL_DROUGHT_PAGE.PHP
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS...
THE DROUGHT MONITOR IS A MULTI-AGENCY EFFORT INVOLVING
NOAA/S NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AND NATIONAL CLIMATIC
DATA CENTER...THE USDA...STATE AND REGIONAL CENTER
CLIMATOLOGISTS AND THE NATIONAL DROUGHT MITIGATION
CENTER. INFORMATION FOR THIS STATEMENT HAS BEEN GATHERED
FROM NWS AND FAA OBSERVATION SITES...STATE COOPERATIVE
EXTENSION SERVICES...THE USDA...USACE AND USGS.
QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS...
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS ABOUT THIS DROUGHT
INFORMATION STATEMENT...PLEASE CONTACT...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
3 EATON WAY
PUEBLO CO 81007
PHONE: 719-948-9429
W-PUB.WEBMASTER@NOAA.GOV
$$